Comfortably Chaotic
by Use Your Illusion ACT III
Summary: When a man barges into your home uninvited nearly every day for months on end, eventually you start to expect him.


Just wrote this to prove to myself that I _can_ write fluffy shipfics.

* * *

Comfortably Chaotic

The average working woman looks forward to going home at the end of the day. She waits with baited breath for the chance to kick off the oh-so beautiful torture devices known as high heels and sink into a hot bath. Visions of the last few spoonfuls of ice cream left in the freezer spur her on, giving her the strength to finish the walk home. The working woman longs to return to the comfort of her big, soft bed. She can't wait for her handsome boyfriend to rub her shoulders and listen to how horrible her day was (this is more often than not wishful thinking). The average working woman loves to go home.

Lucy Heartfilia was not the average working woman. She just got paid like one.

And Lucy was most definitely _not_ looking forward to going home. There wouldn't be any relaxing for her. Not while the bane of her existence was there, eating her food, reading her unfinished book, going through her underwear drawer. The idiot would invade her privacy without so much as an apology, then act like she was the one at fault for getting mad. Then, to add insult to injury, he'd make a crack about her weight. Not to speak of Natsu.

Happy was bad enough, but his pyromaniac partner? Lucy would probably have a more restful evening in the river. He really pissed her off. Who the hell did he think he was, breaking into her apartment every night? He knew how much she hated it, too; Natsu Dragneel may have been dense, but even he couldn't misread a boot to the head and a string of carefully chosen swears. Well, he probably could, but that wasn't the point. What was the point? Oh, yes, insensitive jerk.

Lucy approached the door with the air of a woman approaching the gallows. Images of what fresh hell awaited flashed in her mind. That stupid hothead and his stupid, blue cat were probably spilling something on her nice, clean couch. Or using up all her hot water to boil some strange monster meat in her bathtub. Or working out in her room, stinking up her inner sanctum with their sweat. Well, no use putting it off.

She pushed open her door to find… an empty room. No big mess, no raging inferno, no unidentifiable odor, just furniture and books. She thought maybe the mayhem was hiding in her bedroom or the bathroom, but nothing. For the first time in a long while, the apartment was mercifully Natsu-free. It was nice… sort of. Lucy hadn't come home to an empty house in so long she'd forgotten what it was like.

No nonchalant "Hey, Lucy," as she walked in on him snooping through her desk. No annoying whine as she slammed the bathroom door in his face. No sound of him breaking something that was no doubt of sentimental value while she tried to relax. No puppy dog eyes looking up pathetically as she pretended to still be mad at him. It was so quiet.

She kept waiting for the bang, the familiar sound of Natsu wrecking the place, but it didn't come. Lucy was grateful for the peace and quiet, but she had to wonder why. Why wasn't he there?

He wasn't out on a job. He and Happy had planned… some stupid male-bonding thing, she couldn't remember. Whatever it was, they couldn't still be at it this late. He wouldn't be at some other girl's apartment… would he? Wait, why was she so upset about this? It wasn't like Natsu was her boyfriend or anything. He wasn't obligated to come trash her place. Not that she wanted him to trash her place. It was just… she was used to it.

It was like the brawls at the guildhall; Lucy didn't enjoy them, in fact, she feared for her life, but they were familiar. They meant she was home. Kind of like how seeing Natsu meant she was home.

She laughed a little at the thought, but it wasn't so strange. He _was_ the one who had gotten her into the guild. The first person she had partnered with on a mission. She'd even learned what it meant to be a part of Fairy Tail by his example. It made sense that she'd relate him to feeling at home. When she was with Natsu, she was where she was supposed to be.

Lucy smiled as she climbed into bed. Then that smile faltered when she noticed how much warmer it was than usual. It turned into a look of abject horror when she spied the rose colored locks sticking out from under the covers. The look of abject horror turned white when a body rolled over onto hers. Natsu Dragneel was in her bed. On top of her chest. Drooling.

"NATSU!"

* * *

So, that's my take on Natsu and Lucy's relationship. She starts to realize how much she loves him, and then he does something weird and all that flies out the window.

Until next time, respect all life, love each other, and don't run with your spears.


End file.
